Hey, I made webcomicbox.com =)
Well I never intended it to rip off artists, rather for it to be a way for users on mobile devices to read the comics where they otherwise couldn't.
And I am looking into impoving the site so that creators actually get the credit.

currently I am only adding comics that are under Creative Commons License which basically asks for people to copy the content))))

I am thinking of making it this way:
by default it will load the whole page like comic-rocket does, but the user will have an option to turn on just the "single image mode", but this will be an option, not default setting.

I'd rather have the page views, of course, because the hits are good for my self-esteem. There's nothing financial about my site. That said, the one thing that really riled me was a while back when one of those sites basically filed off the serial numbers. That site erased the copyright notice and my signature before reposting it.

OTOH, there's a bit of an ego boost after five years and 700 comics to see some of my comic circulating. Just ask, I have no problem. Teachers have been putting them in lesson plans and hanging them in the classroom._________________

This wouldn't be so bad (assuming there are levels of bad that keep things somewhere around barely legal) if clicking on the thumbnails redirected readers to the actual comic sites, like Just the First Frame does. But keeping readers on your site, and surrounding the stolen pages with your code, sucks rocks. And is not legal._________________

Well, just so you know, I have emailed all the artists of the listed comics + some additional ones and i'm getting around 60% positive responses, so you are wrong if you think that artists actively oppose it.

It also seems that some artists who actually want to share their work can't do so because their comic hosting doesn't allow syndication etc, and they are not making any money either, because all those free hosts just put their own ads, not the artists' ones.

So what I thought is adding webcomic hosting to the site. What would it take to convince users to switch from lets say smackjeeves? I am not planning on having any ads on the site for one thing (that costs circa 20$ on smackjeves yearly) and also providing a subdomain for free too. I don't really want there to be any paid features at all (im a communist =) )
do you think people would switch?

Well, just so you know, I have emailed all the artists of the listed comics + some additional ones and i'm getting around 60% positive responses, so you are wrong if you think that artists actively oppose it.

Mmm no, I oppose what you did without asking for permission first. In principle, that is, since it didn't affect me personally. I think I'd need to have higher visitor stats and a big following before you swiped my comics. You're correcting your mistake now, which is good, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place and trying to justify your actions really doesn't work._________________

You know, Ink Outbreak and Comic rocket are good systems because
1) They actually take you to the comic's actual page. The comic author still gets hits registered and can tell how many people are reading, their ads show up and altogether anything beyond the comic itself that they have labored on and wish to share is actively available.
2) You can clearly notice which comics have been added/approved by the original author versus ones that were just listed at the request of a reader.
3) Their systems are built to handle vast numbers of comics in their systems.

Looking at your page, it looks more like an over-glorified list of your favorite comics. I don't mean to offend by that, but let me walk you through this. The first thing I noticed was that you had Sluggy Freelance listed with the same glory as every other comic. When I saw this, I immediately felt a little stricken. On Ink Outbreak and Comic Rocket they both list Sluggy without any graphics, showing that it was listed by the readers and not the author. I doubt that you succeeded where they had not, and I felt a little-bit lied-to.
Then when I tried to view more comics, I found the list extremely short. It was easy to venture a guess that this was a list you as the creator made, and it has not grown since.

I also want to say something about the option to view the comic by itself, but I think it has all been said already. I think the only people who haven't expressed a dissatisfaction with this feature are those who have not been made aware of it. This is theft.

What I want to say in closing here is pretty simple. There is already Ink Outbreak and Comic Rocket. They are nice systems. Why do we need more? Unless there is something you are bringing to the table that they are not, you're just saturating the market. Don't._________________My webcomic: Mischief in Maytia
http://maytiacomic.com/

Actually Sluggy freelance approved of the site. I received the reply yesterday.

As for why am I doing this money-wise, I host a lot my own sites that actually generate a lot of incoome, so keeping the server running isnt a problem. Just wanted to do some good (communist remember).

From what I noticed Ink breakout doesnt allow you to switch pages, just swithc comics, and comic rocket is kinda slow imo. Try switching a page on comicrocket and on webcomicbox.com. There a large delay between the two

Well, just so you know, I have emailed all the artists of the listed comics + some additional ones and i'm getting around 60% positive responses, so you are wrong if you think that artists actively oppose it.

Around? Subjective. Even if that were the real number, that still leaves 40% who are against it, plus just about everyone on this board.

If you still can't really grasp why this is wrong/illegal, try thinking about it in other forms. Say music or writing. Remember the whole firestorm with file-sharing sites like Napster? Those models, while giving access to many people, stripped the creators of their rights and revenue. The same is currently going on against authors and google as google as illegally been scanning works and posting those works on their site for free. This is again ignoring the writer/artist's rights and taking away their revenue. Comic art is protected under the same same laws as music and literature/writing. If you can't do it with those mediums of expression, you can't do it with this one. You're not supposed to eat the food before you buy it in a grocery store, you're not supposed to post/use other people's music/writing/art without their permission. These rights are even protected in other countries also.

With your site, I for one would never use it. You've started out with a site for theft and then started tweeking it to try and get yourself out of trouble. This makes me think that it wouldn't be out of your character to try and say that you have a right to re/distribute or use an artist's work because they have it on your server.

And as Casual Notice said, what you're doing isn't communism. You should really stop trying to play that as an excuse for your actions. Regardless of your political standing, you're still governed/affected by the law.

You guys simply can't get of all the 'theft' thing. If I get authors permission, or the comic is Crateive Commons licensed it isn't a theft. There is only like maybe 4 comics on the site, that I haven't received the reply for yet, that's all. I am not forcing anyone on the site.

You guys simply can't get of all the 'theft' thing. If I get authors permission, or the comic is Crateive Commons licensed it isn't a theft. There is only like maybe 4 comics on the site, that I haven't received the reply for yet, that's all. I am not forcing anyone on the site.

Then you need to get permission for those four before you can post their work. It's that simple._________________My webcomic: Mischief in Maytia
http://maytiacomic.com/